General
What is a caricature?
A caricature is either a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence
of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness,
or in literature, a description of a person using exaggeration of some
characteristics and oversimplification of others.
The term is derived from the Italian caricare- to charge or load.
What else can I do with the portrait?
I don't know! Use you're imagination. Blog? AIM? MySpace? FaceBook? Forums?
Address Book Card? Or, maybe go beyond the computer and make a cake or use it as a logo.
What does Wittygraphy mean?
Wittygraphy is a new word and a synonym of caricature. It means the art of making
humorous drawings. From Dictionary.com:
witty: (adjective) Quick to discern and express amusing insights
or relationships
-graphy: (suffix) A combining form denoting a process or form of
drawing, writing, representing, recording, describing, etc., or an art or science
concerned with such a process
Who gets to be a "featured caricaturist"?
Featured caricaturists are the ones we'd like the community to notice. They are chosen
based on several criteria. For example artists who completed their profile on Wittygraphy
(e.g. uploaded portfolios, added biography, telling about themselves and their practice),
artists with recent impressive work, new artists, etc. If you'd like to be considered,
go to the
contact us page and send a note to the webmaster.
Rhoda Grossman graciously allowed
us to use her drawings. We were very impressed with Rhoda's style and technique.
Check out her
website
to know more about Rhoda's work.
How do I report an error?
If you believe you found a problem, we sure would like to know. Please use
our
bug report page and try to provide as much information
as possible to help us understand the problem.
Account and Profile
Is my personal information secure?
Yes. We will not sell or distribute any of your personal information that
is submitted on our site. This includes your email address, postal address,
phone number, and any other personal data. Please see our
Privacy Policy for more information.
Check your spam and bulk email folders. The email might have been wrongly
classified as such. If you can't locate it, go to
the activation page and enter
your username and email address. We will then email you a new copy of
the instructions.
First make sure your account is already activated. Second to be able to sign
in, your browser must accept cookies from Wittygraphy. Check your
browser's settings and try again.
What if I forgot my password?
If you forget your password you can have it sent to your registered email address.
Simply click on the Sign In at the top of any Wittygraphy page, click on the
Forgot Your Password link, and enter
your username and email address. We will send your password to the registered
email address on your account.
At the top left corner, below our logo, click on
My Settings
link to access the Control Panel (we called it the "green section"). The different
green tabs allow configuring various aspect of your profile to show to the general
public through your "blue section".
The web is vast and being found through search engines is a tough proposition for
most of us. Wittygraphy is already highly ranked at these search engines when people
look for caricaturists. The idea is we drive these people from search engines to
Wittygraphy, and then it becomes a much simpler task for caricaturists to make sure
they can be found on Wittygraphy. The visibility of a caricaturist on Wittygraphy
highly depends on the level of his/her participation (e.g. posting pictures, comments).
How can I promote my Wittygraphy profile?
You could insert "Wittygraphy's badges" on your other websites to let your visitors find your
profile on Wittygraphy. Furthermore, search engines like links. These badges will definitely
give a boost to the ranking of your Wittygraphy profile on Google, Yahoo!, MSN, etc.
You may retrieve your badge under your account
Settings tab.
Once you signed in to your account, an "Invite Friends" link shows in the footer (left-side).
Use this link to invite them and they will automatically be in your friends network once
they complete the registration process.
Does it cost anything to participate in Wittygraphy?
No. Participation in Wittygraphy is free, and there are currently no restrictions on the amount of space that
participants can use for their portfolios, webpages, etc.
Transactions
How can I get my caricature done?
- Look for a caricaturist on Wittygraphy with the style and price matching your preference
- Place an order. Provide as much details as possible and upload few photos of the subject
- Use the discussion section to exchange further details with the caricaturist
- Wait for the caricaturist to provide the final price after provided details are factored in
- Pay the caricaturist or decline the offer (this will cancel the order).
- Wait for the caricaturist to upload the artwork.
- Retrieve it and use it.
- Write a feedback about your transaction with this caricaturist.
How do I work on a caricature order?
- Upon receiving an order request, use the discussion section to inquire for more details if needed.
- Once you have enough details, decline the order or accept it by providing the final price to the customer.
- Wait for the payment. Once received confirm it was received
- Draw the caricature and upload the artwork
- Mark the order as complete.
- Write a feedback about your transaction with this customer.
What do I need to service an order?
You need a caricaturist account with Wittygraphy and a good quality image scanner.
The final deliverable is a scanned version of the caricature on paper.
You can also produce a vector-based caricature.
Feedback
What is the feedback system?
Feedback represents your reputation as an Wittygraphy member. It's made up of
comments and ratings left by other members you've bought from and sold to.
Whenever you buy or sell something, we ask that you leave Feedback about the
transaction that reflects your experience with the buyer or caricaturist. At the
same time, we ask your trading partner to leave Feedback about you as well.
Over time, members of the Wittygraphy community develop a Feedback Profile,
or reputation, based on the comments and ratings left by other members. The
Feedback Score is one of the most important pieces of a Feedback Profile.
Why leave Feedback?
Leaving honest comments gives members a good idea of what to expect when
dealing with other members. Leaving Feedback is also a way to increase the
goodwill of the Wittygraphy community by expressing your appreciation for a
job well done. Finally, if you are a buyer, you can help spread the word about
a caricaturist you like, and if you are a caricaturist, you can help recognize
and reward loyal customers, which encourages them to buy from you again.
Should I leave negative Feedback for a caricaturist?
Feedback comments become a permanent part of a caricaturist's record. If you
are a buyer, contact your caricaturist to try to resolve any issues before
leaving negative Feedback. Please make sure that your comments are fair,
based in fact, and relate to the specific transaction for which you received
the Feedback request.
Fees & Payments
How can I get paid for the work done?
Caricaturists are responsible for arranging payments with their customers.
Wittygraphy connects caricature buyers to caricaturists but we are not
involved in the transaction itself. Wittygraphy acts as a referral service.
Can I get paid through PayPal?
Absolutely.
PayPal is the largest online
payment processor and enables us to transact safely without disclosing our
financial information (e.g. credit card number). Register for PayPal account
and attach your PayPal email address in to your account info profile. While
we do not collect payments on your behalf (i.e. the money goes directly from
the buyer to your PayPal account) we made it easy for buyers to pay caricaturists
via PayPal.
Wittygraphy uses
PayPal as our payment processor.
PayPal is fast, easy, and safe. Through PayPal, you can pay your invoices
using any major credit cards or using your PayPal account.
Copyright
What is a "copyright"?
A copyright is a legal right that protects creative content like movies,
TV shows, books, sound recordings, music videos, photographs, published
articles and other artistic works. The point of copyright law is to encourage
the development of new creative content by giving the original creator
certain exclusive rights to use the content.
Who is the copyright owner?
The original creator of the content owns the copyright to start with.
The copyright owner can give someone else permission to use the content
and can even sell the copyright to someone else.
What rights does a copyright owner have?
Only the copyright owner can copy, upload, display, distribute, publicly
perform, and sell his or her content.
Do I own any copyrights?
If you create wholly original content, you would own a copyright in that
content. For example, if you write and record a brand new song, make a home
video, write a poem, or take a photograph, you would own the copyright in
all that content. In general, you may post to MySpace original content that
you create because you are the copyright owner.
If I purchase a copy of a copyrighted work, do I own the copyright?
No. There is a difference between owning a physical copy of a copyrighted
work and owning the copyright. If you buy a music CD, you own that copy
of the CD, but you do not own the copyright to the songs on that CD.
You may not post the songs to MySpace because you are not the copyright
owner of the songs.
How do I report a copyright violation?
Please send email to copyright {at} wittygraphy {dot} com
